Can ejecting device



April 6, 1965 w. NASS 3,176,421

CAN EJECTING DEVICE Filed Dec. 26. 1962 WDATEQ 12.. Mass INVENTOR.

AT TORNEV United States Patent This invention relates to a unique type of device for use in shooting a beer can, soft drink can, or the like through the air in a manner such that the can-may serve as a moving target to then be fired at by a pistol, rifle, or shotgun.

There have in the past been devised certain gun devices intended to serve the purpose of the present invention, for firing a can or the like through the air. However, these prior devices have had several very definite disadvantages which have limited their use, and have prevented them from becoming popular. For one thing, all such previously developed devices with which I am familiar have been sufficiently complex to require that they sell for a rather high price, with the result that mostgun enthusiasts have felt that the advantage to be gained by purchasing the item was ndt equal to the cost. Further, these prior devices have been considerably less effective functionally than would bedesired, particularly in the manner in which they have retained the cans imposition prior to firing.

A'rnajor object of the present invention is to provide a unit which may be employed for the discussed purpose,

and which is structurally much simpler than prior similar devices, While at the same time being more effective and reliable in operation. To simplify the structure of the special apparatus required, I design the unit to take the form of an adaptor device, which is capable of being attached removably to any conventional gun, andwhich functions when so attached to convert the gun for use in shooting cans for target purposes. The device may be constructed for removable attachment to the barrel of the gun, desirably by means of a spring clip which yieldingly grips the muzzle end of the gun barrel. The can to be ejected is then carried by a holder structure, which may be received by the end of the barrel, and which will receive and releasably retain the can. The holder structure may contain an opening in alignment with the barrel, .for passing gases of combustion from a blank or regular cartridge through the opening to act against the can.

Certain particular features of the invention reside in the preferred construction of the holder element itself, which may form 'a recess into which an end of the can is insertible, and constructed to frictionally engage and retain the, can. More particularlyrthe recess may have side walls which converge at an angle such as to assure effective frictional retention of the can, while also enabling the can to be easily ejected from the holder by the force of the gases produced by the blank or regular cartridge. In the optimum arrangement, the holder takes the form of a hollow cup whose side wall tapers at the desired angle.

The above and other features and objects of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the typical embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 represents a rifle having a can holding device embodying the invention mounted to the muzzle end' of the gun barrel;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary partly sectional view of the muzzle end of the gun of FIG. 1 and the carried can holder; and 7 FIG. 3 is a view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

Referring first to FIG. 1, I have shown at 10 a conventional rifle having a barrel 11 to the end of which there is removably mounted a can holding device 121.comstructed in accordance with the invention. Device 12 is shown as it appears when a conventional metal beer can 13 or the like is mounted to holder 12 in position for firing. It is noted that this can 13, which is of course cylindrical as shown, is carried in a position of axial alignment with gun'barrel 11, so that both the barrel 11 and can 13 have a common longitudinal axis 14.

-In FIG. 2, the transverse end surface formed at the muzzle end of barrel 11 is designated by the numeral 15. Holder 12 includes a part 16 which abuts against this surface, and has a spring clip-portion 17 clamped about barrel 11 to retain the holder in position. Part 16 carries a cup element 18 which receives and grips can 13.

Element 16 is formed of sheet material, preferably sheet metal, which is deformed to the illustrated configuration, and has sufficient resilience to tightly grip the gun barrel. The best material for forming element 16 is a high quality of spring steel suitably heat treated to have the desired resilient gripping action. This part 16 has a planar portion 19 lying in a plane disposed transversely of barrel axis 14, with portion 19 being defined peripherally by a circular edge 20 centered about axis14. At its center, portion 19' contains an opening 21, which may be circular and slightly larger in diameter than the bore 22 within barrel 11, and which opening 21 is received in alignment with bore 22 to pass gases of combustion forwardly from the barrel through opening 21.

At one point along the peripheral edge 21) of portion 19, the sheet material of element 16 is turned'axially at 23 to form a planar portion 24 acting as the cross piece of the essentially U-shaped spring clip 17. To form clip 17, the material of part 16 is deformed to provide two generally parallel gripping 'arms 25, having opposed V-shaped recesses for receiving and engaging opposite sides of barrel 11 in clamping relation. The cross sec tion of spring clip 17 is uniform along its entire axial extent, so that the clip engages the barrel in line contact along four lines 27 extending parallel to axis 14. To protect the outer surface of barrel 11 vagainst damage, the two arms 25 of spring clip 17 may be coated over their entire surface area with a cushioning material 2?), such as an appropriate somewhat deformable and preferably elastomeric resinous plastic materiaL'for example, an appropriate epoxy resin. The resilience of arms 25 is such as to normally tend to urge these arms toward one another into more closely proximate relation than in FIG. 3, so that the arms may properly grip the barrel.

Cup 18 for holding the can 13 may also be formed of a sheet material, such as sheet metal, which desirably is rigid to permanently retain the shape illustrated in FIG. 2. An appropriate aluminum alloy may for examplebe utilized in forming cup 18, or if desired a suitable low carbon steel may be employed.

Cup 18has a planar circular wall 29 disposed transversely of axis 14 of barrel 11, and deformed at its periphery to provide a generally axially extending circular sidewall 30 of the cup. Wall 29 is rigidly secured to and abuts against portion 19 of element 16, with the attachment of these parts being typically effected by means of a pair of rivets 31 extending through mating apertures in the two parts. Also, wall 29 of the cup contains a circular opening 32 registering with opening 21 in portion 19 of element 16, so that the gases of combustion from the barrel may pass through both of these openings 21 and 32 into the cup.

Side wall 30 of the cup is tapered with respect to axis 14 so that the inner frustroconical side wall surface 33 at the inner side of wall 39 advances inwardly toward axis 14 as it advances axially toward barrel 11. The taper of surface 30 is such as to frictionally engage the peripheral end bead 34 of can 13 in a relation releasably securing the can within cup 18. For this purpose, it is found that the angle a of taper or convergence of surface 30 (the included angle formed between twodiametrically opposed portions of surface 30) should be not greater than about 15 degrees, and for best results is between about 7 degrees and 10 degrees. The particular specific angle which has been selected as the presently preferred optimum angle of taper is approximately 8 and /2 degrees, and more particularly 8 degrees and 38 minutes. As will be apparent, if the angle a is too great, the frictional engagement between head 34 and surface 33 will not be sutficient to effectively secure can 13 in the cup. On the other hand, too small an angle is not desirable, since it may result in too tight retention of the can by the cup.

To now describe the manner of use of the device illustrated in the figures, assume that holder 12 is initially detached from barrel 11. In order to attach holder 12 to the barrel, it is necessary merely to move portion 19 of element 16 against the end surface of the barrel, and then snap the spring clip 17 about the barrel to secure the parts in the relationship illustrated in FIG. 2. The user may then place an empty can 13 within cup 18, as seen in the figures, and upon firing a blank or regular cartridge in the firing chamber of the gun, the gases of combustion from the cartridge will emit from the muzzle end of barrel 11, pass through openings 21 and 32 into cup 18 and exert force against the can 13 in a manner shooting the can from the cup. Another person may then fire at the can as a' moving target, or if gun 10 is capable of firing more than one shot without reloading, the person holding gun 10 may fire at the target with the same gun which has ejected the can.

What is claimed as new is:

A device for use with a gun having a barrel, compris ing a holder adapted to releasably hold a can or the like at a location opposite the muzzle end of said barrel for ejection from the holder and gun upon firing of a cartridge in the gun, and a releasable spring clip removably receivable in resilient gripping relation about said barrel for detachably securing said holder to the gun in a position to hold said can at said location, said clip including two spring arms formed of resilient sheet material positioned to extend upwardly adjacent and yieldingly grip opposite sides of said barrel, said arms containing gooves extending axially of the barrel and defining four spaced points of contact relative to said barrel for locating the clip in a predetermined fixed orientation with respect thereto, said holder including a plate carried by said clip and forwardly thereof at a location to be disposed transversely of the barrel at its forward end and to define the back wall of a forwardly facing and forwardly opening recess for receiving a can, said holder having a generally annular wall extending forwardly from the periphery of said plate to define a side of said recess and to engage and hold an end bead of the can, said generally annular side wall tapering rearwardly at a gradual angle between about 7 and 10 degrees to frictionally but releasably grip said can, said plate containing an opening for passing gases forwardly from the barrel into said recess and against the can.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,074,201 9/13 Quisling 421 1,735,086 11/29 Paxson.

2,385,649 9/45 Prideaux 42-l 2,469,870 5/49 Dixon 421 2,557,277 6/51 Gibson 42l 3,004,360 10/61 Johnson 42l 3,087,481 4/63 Foster 12441 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL FEINBERG, Examiner. 

